PERSISTENT MYOCARDITIS – DILATED CARDIOMYOPATHY – REC. VENTY-TACHYCARDIAS! Is there anyone out there who is familiar with this and can give us some help on any medication or therapy? Any input would be greatly appreciated! Here’s the case: My father, 68 years of age, suffers from a dilated cardiomyopathy and rec. VT’s which led to ventricular fibrillation several times: During the last 14 weeks he spent at different hospitals (in intensive medical care) defibrillation had to be used 13 times to get him back to life. Because there’s no sign for an ischaemic heart disease at all (no coronary artery disease; no bypass-operation is necessary) he is meant to have persistent myocarditis (nonischaemic cardiomyopathy). Cardiac biopsy as sincere method to get a reliable diagnosis isn’t possible because of his completely bad physical condition (he survived peritionitis and pneumonia...). An infection with borreliosis and/or coxsachieviruses could not be verified although he has been treated against borreliosis with an antibiotic therapy in summer 1999! In the first 4 weeks an anti-arrhythmica-therapy has been tested. The results were completely horrible – my father suffered from increasing VT’s! So this therapy has been stopped. (We do not know which drugs exactly in which dosis have been used: ACE-Inhibitors, Amiodarone, Beta-Blockers, Digoxin, Diuretics, Warfarin etc.) At the moment he’s treated „conservative“ or „symptomatic“: Calium is given in high rates (until 5), heparin, furosemid and one antibiotic medicament (Targocid). We think – and it seems to be the last hope -, our father’s in need of an AICD (implantable defibrillator), but therefore he has to recover from pneumonia/peritonitis. Is that right? Are there any other possibilities? Do you have experiences in therapy of myocarditits? Could you send us advices for therapy and medication? Where can we get further information a n d he l p? Please answer as soon as possible. Bless you God. Greetings from Germany, Sincerely yours, Sollbach@bernecker.de Dr. Armin Sollbach Kirchstrasse 39 D-35767 Breitscheid Tel.: 0171 – 454 000 1

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